How does the USPTO define an abandoned patent application?

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) defines an abandoned patent application through the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) 203.05. According to this section, an abandoned application is defined as:

An abandoned application is, inter alia, one which is removed from the Office docket of pending applications

This removal from the docket can occur for various reasons, including formal abandonment, failure to take appropriate action during prosecution, non-payment of fees, or the expiration of the statutory period for provisional applications.